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Lost Marbles
Kansas. Center of the United States of America and home to wheat, farmboys, and meth labs. This is where the twenty second annual Marble of the Universe contest is being held, having been chosen by random luck of the draw. More specifically, the tournament is being held in a small town named Coffeyville ... it's biggest attraction the large ball of twine in an empty field. And here we'll find our villians of tonight's adventures, two Seekers streaking through the air with all the finesse and skill of an ace pilot. Well, one might be. The other you might ask? That's Backfire, and he's flying around like a madmech. <> F-16 Falcon is, indeed, flying with finesse until Backfire uses that damned /name/, and her frame quakes. Why couldn't it be a cool name! She'd be fine with just 'medic', but no, this Unicron-forsaken Decepticon known as Backfire had to be not only insanely thick, but increasingly annoying as well. <<...Right.>> She is under the impression that they're looking for marble. You know, the calcite result of limestone used for building and such, so she just follows his lead. It's another peaceful and quiet night over here in North Central US of A, or is it? As per Protectobot doctrine, Blades is out patrolling the night skies and doing all the fancy things like relaying infractions of the law to the local police enforcement facilities all the while keeping an optic out for any calamaties that could use a Cybertronian putting down. << Eeesh, back in the days you'd have attracted so much smeggin' attention in that form of yours, Moonracer and the both of us would be in for a lecturin' by Prowl for breaking disguise protocals. Time sure has changed, eh? >> Blades comments as he continues to patrol the night skies. Cruising through the midwest was not exactly Moonracer's idea of a good time, but it was her turn to pull standard patrol duties, so here she was. Following Blades wasn't much of a problem for the incredibly fast Cybertronian car, but she was also trying to not draw any undue attention, or lectures, from the Protectobot, so she wasn't breaking any human traffic laws /too/ badly. <> <> Backfire muses, rocketing along the skyline and preparing for their operation. On the ground, the tournament is in full swing. Children are milling about, all with their own bag of marbles ... and it's almost time for the finals! Winner gets the 'Marble of the Universe', pretty much an oversized ball of plastic painted to resemble a marble. "Moody or not, prepare yourself for action Harrow. We are approximately two clicks from the location!" F-16 Falcon zooms over Coffeyville and finds an appropriate place to land near the tournament, which is atop a food vending stand. Crunch. "I am not moody," she snaps, standing akimbo and surveying the area. Wait a nano... "Where is the factory..." Upon seeing tiny balls of glass, she groans and drags a palm over her face. "Backfire... are you fragging serious!?" The dark blue F-16 Falcon Harrow transforms into her robot mode with a swift shift of components. "Eh, nothing out of the ordinary, as usual. Well I'll be dipped, is that a fraggin' speed racer on the local highway?" Blades comments dryly in response to Moonracer. Patrol mission isn't glamorous at all, it's doubly less so when you're patrolling with a Protectobot. The helicopter sweeps down lower in altitude as it attempts to collect visual data. "Eesh, I ought to have signed up for Sky Lynx's space patrols instead like Streetwise did. Same patrols every smegging day is enough to downgrade my circuits, eh." Speed racer? Chuckling, Moonracer guns her engine and moves to catch up to the 'speed racer' wanna-be. Weaving in and out of the traffic made up a little bit for the boring patrol. "I doubt the space patrols would have been any more exciting. Well, in your case, they probably would have been even less exciting. There's nothing in space really, you know." Transforming, Backfire lands on the rooftop with a *THRUD* and leans down low ... taking the scene in. "What do you mean, am I serious? I'm always seriously SERIOUS!" he blares out, jumping from the rooftop and taking to the air. "It is time Harrow, time for us to assert our dominance!" he cries out, firing off a couple of warning shots in the air. "This is a stick up! Drop your marble bags on the ground and back away ... slowly!" The F-16 Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal... BACKFIRE! Harrow is beside herself in disbelief. Either Backfire got his marbles mixed up or someone was playing a trick on him. "We're... we're raiding toy marbles," she murmurs, more to herself. With a long, venting sigh, she rolls her shoulders in a shrug. Better than being cooped up in the med ward, and if Galvatron dislikes their bounty, she'll know who to blame. She points her own pistol at the group of humans, who slowly drop their bags of marbles. Zooming through the traffic, the Cybertronian car that is Moonracer slows down suddenly and pulls to the side of the road. Was that weapons fire she heard? It was pretty distant, and there was a lot of noise here on the highway, but Moonracer kept her senses sharp so she could remain proficient as a sharpshooter. <> She could be wrong about the direction, with all the noise, but she was pretty sure it came from that direction. Shortly after Backfire had discharged his weapon into the air, reports of weapons fire of EVIL extraterrestrial origin is reported to the local law enforcement authorities who promptly reports it to Autobot HQ who then -finally- relays it over to the Protectobot aerial warrior and the Femme sharpshooter. Whew! What a lengthy bit that was. << Eeesh, what the smeg is this?! Decepticon incursion in the western parts of the city, eh? Damn glitches just signed their own death certificates. >> The helicopter cruises onwards towards the reported location where he finds the two Decepticon Seekers present amongst children and... marbles. Shining his high powered light on Backfire, Blades makes his demands, << Eeesh, alright you frag up. Leave the human offsprings and... uh... their marbles alone, or I'll have to hurt you. >> "You can keep the disgusting humans Protectobot, but their marbles?" Backfire retorts, running along and gathering as many up as he can. "Their marbles BELONG TO ME! Muahawahwahahahaha!" he laughs, half evil ... half stupid. "Harrow, I'll grab the small bags ... you handle the prize!" Harrow slowly lifts her helm to leer at Blades. "Well if it isn't the traitor..." She lets Backfire finish his incessant laughter before nonchalantly turning to head for the giant marble prize. A small group of terrified but determined humans crowd around the Marble of the Universe. Harrow sneers and plucks it up from behind them. Hmmm. Yes, Galvatron will be immensely pleased with a large plastic ball. Cybertronian Car turns at the incoming relay about the Decepticons, silently congratulating herself on her sharp senses, and hits top speed, racing towards the scene. Upon hearing Backfire's remark about marbles, the femme sharpshooter can't help but laugh at the stupidity of the Decepticons. They've been hitting new lows lately. Transforming and sprinting the last bit of the distance, her rifle in hand. "Why don't you Decepticons just go home, and leave the humans alone for a change? Or do you /enjoy/ getting your aft's kicked by us?" Shifting and unfolding, the Cybertronian Car becomes Moonracer! Sikorsky S-76 Spirit lowers down onto the ground and transforms into his robotic mode. He lays his gaze down at Harrow, and a long icy silence ensues. Eventually the Protectobot tilts his head towards the left with a blank look expressed on his face plate, "Eh... who the frag are you again?" Noticibly irritated now, the Protectobot aerial warrior's right hand raises up, photon pistol clearly gripped within. "Eeeesh, now y'all just lay down them marbles." Blades slowly shifts his gaze between the two Decepticons, carefully studying the two closely, ready to respond to any sudden action with a response of his own. Countless locking mechanisms within the Sikorsky S-76 Spirit disengages as it reconfigures its structure, eventually compacting itself into the recognizable form of Blades, Protectobot extraordinare. F-16 Falcon raors onto the scene fuming, tipping his wings in frustration. "Harrow! Backfire! He drops to skirt along the ground before looping up angrily above the scene of the confrontation. "What are you doing HERE? I'm been waiting at the quarry for 16000 astrominutes!" He does a quick scan, assessing the situation, and his horror mounts as it dawns on him what's happened. He transforms to settle in the square near Harrow. "Marble! Not marbles. Rock is what we're after!" He sneers in turn at the Autobots present. "But I see the situation's too complex now for us to retreat. Forget the marbles...focus on the Autobots!" He lifts into the air, to drag a sensor sweep over Blades. The F16 Fighting Falcon unfolds into Artifice! Combat: Artifice analyzes Blades for weaknesses Harrow can exploit. The Seeker simpleton continues to collect the various bags of marbles, depositing them in sub-space as he hurridly scurries through the area. Taking to the air, Backfire approaches Harrow with arms held out ... grin on his face. Usually this would be a bad omen, but in this case ... perhaps not. "Harrow, give me the 'Marble of the Universe' and worry about our Autobot friends! Artifice, it's nice to see you still do field work ... I was worried they chained you to a desk!" he laughs. Harrow is clearly ignoring Blades as she tosses Backfire the giant marble with no amount of care. She hopes it hits him in the codpiece. Seeing as she's been following his orders thus far, she turns her attention back to Blades, Moonracer going unnoticed for now. "Yes, it's /rock/, but tell that to For-The-Empire here!" she answers Artifice, and thanks him for the data with a small salute before crouching to fire upon da' choppah. Combat: Harrow sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Harrow misses Blades with her Laser attack! Now there were /three/ of them? Man, this night just got better and better. But Moonracer can't help but chuckle as the true stupidity of the Decepticons is revealed, yet again. But it looked like battle was joined, as the new arrival looks suspiciously hard at Blades, and Harrow fires. Well, the Seeker missed, and didn't seem to even notice Moonracer's presence. That would work to her advantage, as she ducks behind a tent that was set up for the event here, and lines up her rifle on Harrow. Slowly squeezing the trigger, the femme sharpshooter grins and a laser blast lances towards the femme Seeker. "Hey, stupid, think fast!" Combat: Moonracer sets her defense level to Guarded. Combat: Moonracer strikes Harrow with her Low-yield attention getter attack! -3 The Protectobot aerial warrior grunts out in annoyance as he finally notices Artifice's presence, and what a meddling presence it is! A quick glimpse in the corner of Blades' optics alerts him to Harrow's impending attack and he quickly drops down to one knee and raises both arms in a way that brings both ablative armour platings that's mounted on it to bear. Could he have dodged it? Definitely, but then some poor kid probably would end up getting fried instead and we can't have that. As the laser blast makes contact with Blades' ablative armour plating, a detonation ensues, sending fragments in the opposite direction as it rebounds the weapons fire. As soon as Harrow is done firing, Blades spins around and shouts out to the humans nearby, "RUN already, frag it all!" A look of irritation sweeps across Blades' face as he unclips one of his rotor blades, winds up his throwing arm, turns back towards Artifice and lets the sharp melee object fly. Meanwhile, the adults in the area quickly runs in and grabs their children before fleeing towards safety. Looks like they took the Protectobot's advice to heart. Combat: Blades misses Artifice with his Rotor Blade attack! -3 Artifice casts a glance at Backfire that is simultaneously baleful and bemused. "No such luck," says the defacto leader of this as-yet unofficial Seeker wing. "And it's a good thing, too!" He spares yet another complex look for Harrow just before Moonracer's shot strikes her. This definitely gets his attention; he whirls on Moonracer, pointing with his right hand and the lightning cannon affixed to his upper arm. "This is an unfortunate misunderstanding," he hisses, "but maybe we can turn it in our favor when we bring your dismantled pieces back to Galvatron in a garbage bag!" He fires a warning bolt her way as he boosts backward to analyzing distance. He's not oblivious to the proximity of the Protectobot, and boosts into a back flip to avoid the rotor. Combat: Artifice misses Moonracer with his Lightning Cannon attack! "Either way, I'm off to prep the med ward ... no doubt you'll get more than a papercut in my arena Artifice!" Backfire cackles, transforming and taking to the air. <> A shake, shudder, and shiver; and before your eyes BACKFIRE transforms into a F-16 Falcon! Combat: F-16 Falcon begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Harrow yelps when her attention is GOTTEN! She stumbles from the force and glares around for its source. "YOU!" she points dramatically. Oh no, cat fight. If only Harrow had claws! <> She doesn't wait around for it and fires upon Moonracer from a distance, this time with her icy pistol. If it misses Moonracer it'll at least freeze that tent she's taking cover behind. Snrk. "Wha'? You're LEAVING!?" she screams up at Backfire, shaking a fist. Combat: Harrow strikes Moonracer with her Ice Pistol attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Moonracer's Agility. (Crippled) Oh, slag! Moonracer leaps backwards and kicks up a nearby table to take the impact of Artifice's incoming electrical attack, and she smirks. "Gotta do a lot better than that to hit /me/, moronicon!" Yeah, let's taunt the enemy. But the femme barely gets her taunt out before she's struck by that ice blast, and partially frozen for a few seconds. She doesn't waste time, however, breaking the ice by transforming and suddenly racing straight at the femme Seeker. "You got lucky! I jumped into that shot, gettin' out of the way of moronicon's shot!" And no, the Cybertronian car doesn't swerve, or change direction, just tries to run Harrow over! (After checking there aren't any humans behind the Seeker, of course.) Combat: Moonracer sets her defense level to Aggressive. Crouching, Moonracer shifts into a Cybertronian Car! Combat: Cybertronian Car strikes Harrow with her Welcome to the Roadkill Cafe! (Ram) attack! The rotor blade that Blades tosses travels across the air, miss it target and dig itself into the ground. Between all of this, Blades is charging forward as well, the tip of his photon pistol tracking the airborne Seeker as he repositions himself. The Protectobot snaps off a shot before sliding towards the rotor blade that had left his hand earlier, retrieving it from the ground. Combat: Blades sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Blades strikes Artifice with his Photon Pistol attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Artifice's Accuracy. (Blinded) Artifice frowns as Backfire makes his exit. He's not entirely sure what his trinemate was trying to communicate with that last crack, but he's relatively sure it isn't worth thinking about for too long - especially with Autobots in the area. He continues his lateral advance, brandishing his sun cannon even as he shunts data Harrow's way. "Make this worth our time, Protectob-Aaaah!" He reels, suddenly blind! Luckily, he got his scan in before that photon blast shorted out his optics. Combat: Artifice analyzes Moonracer for weaknesses Harrow can exploit. Harrow's optics widen and she lowers her pistol to be slammed into. "Gahh!" Her armor buckles and she clings to Moonracer's windshield, fumbling to unspace her scalpel. Lifting it high, she proceeds to try and stab Moonracer's hood repeatedly with it. Right where it counts, hopefully, utilizing Artifice's analysis. Combat: Harrow misses Cybertronian Car with her Vibro-Scalpel attack! BANG! Her bumper denting just a bit with the impact, Moonracer growls at Harrow as the femme Seeker clings to her windshield, instead of flying over her, like she'd planned on happening. No matter, though, there were ways around that. Preparing to slam on her brakes to toss the Seeker, she takes note of a small blade being rapidly plunged down towards her hood, and she changes her mind in that split second. Still moving /fast/, the femme sharpshooter just transforms and kicks her leg out to jar her klingon loose, and avoid the scalpel, all at the same time. "You ain't stickin' that in me!" Shifting and unfolding, the Cybertronian Car becomes Moonracer! Combat: Moonracer strikes Harrow with her Klingon deterrent (Kick) attack! Blades smirks with some degree of satisfaction as he watches Artifice reels about blindly before turning his attention back to the other Seeker on the ground. He swings his the dull end of the rotor blade clutched in his hands like a bat behind Harrow, hoping to catch the Seeker unaware. Yup. That's about as dirty of a trick as Blades' player can come up with at 1 AM in the morning. Combat: Blades strikes Harrow with his (Punch) attack! Artifice grits dentals and scowls. "All right," he says, "there's no tactical advantage to be gained here...we're just wasting time!" He folds into his alt mode. "Harrow! Pull out! Leave these Autobots to tend to their wounds!" With this, he rockets away, back toward the NCC for now. Artifice's fuselage flips up. His wings rotate, his arms retract; with a declining, 5-tone sound, Artifice folds himself into F16 mode! Combat: Artifice begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Moonracer, Harrow, and Blades Harrow isn't doing so hot, as usual. She's not prepared to be punted away, but she is anyway! She catches herself mid-flip with her antigravs, and promptly gets WHACKED by one of Blades'.... blades. "OW! You STUPID PROTOFORM!" she screams and ascends, seething. Gladly following Artifice's orders, she transforms and takes off after him, bitching about Autobot femmes. Harrow twists and folds into a dark blue F-16 Falcon mode with shark-face nose art! Combat: F-16 Falcon begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Moonracer was prepping her rifle for another shot, at close range, when Blades came in from behind and whacked the Seeker good. Taking a step back to properly line up her shot, she pauses and lowers her rifle when the pair of Seekers takes off, running for home. Typical...The fight just gets going, and the Decepticons run away. Oh well, saves some time in the medbay, and probably a lot of risk of human injury, too. She doesn't even bother to call out a parting taunt at the pair as they run, but does turn to Blades. "Well, that was interesting. They came for marbles...." Shaking her head, she smirks. "Those Decepticons just get more and more stupid, don't they?"